How I Got my Daughter to READ! (Part 2)

If you missed Part 1, it's HERE.

The rest of the story isn't so much due to my aforementioned brilliance as it is to grace of God. Oh, and a little credit goes to the hybrid school. Really, though I always felt that if we could break the screen addiction, and she had some incentive to read on her own (haha, tickets for TV-watching, of all things!), she would learn to appreciate it.

Since Meg has a lot more time to read, now that the screens are gone or off, I suggested she read a book for Lent:  Olivia and the Little Way.  We had started it ages and ages ago, as a read-aloud, but didn't get very far. Well, she picked it up a couple of times, just to get a ticket, and finally ended up staying up waaaaay past her bedtime because she was enjoying it so much!

Also, Meg just had to read Anne of Green Gables for school, which I thought was a bit of a challenge for her, though I knew she could manage it if she kept up with it in the assigned, bite-sized chunks. She did get behind and ended up finishing it by listening to a Librivox recording. (Thank you, Amy Caroline!) She enjoyed it, though, and I think she wants to read the others, which would thrill me because they're some of my favorite books on the planet. I don't think I've read a single L.M. Montgomery book that I haven't loved! Have you read them????

Our hybrid school uses this program called Writing with Ease which takes selections from a wide variety of literature for reading, narration, and dictation. I particularly enjoy the exposure to different works, which I think is a great idea if you want to spark the interest of a child.  (If you'll recall, that's where I first heard about Dickens' A Child's History of England that I started reading.) Last week, our excerpt was from My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, and after much raving from me about how awesome it is (along with her Julie of the Wolves series), she decided to read it! She must be enjoying it since she's taking it everywhere she goes.

Now, I don't want you to think that I've never raved about a book before, because that would hardly be true, but she's never wanted to read anything I've recommended. The Little House on the Prairie set that I bought for her? Dusty and, mostly, unread. What little girl doesn't love those? I think it's time to re-introduce her to Betsy, Tacy, and Tib.....because she does like them a lot.

My daughter, like many other kids, I'm sure, just needed the right incentive to improve her reading habits: tickets for TV and exposure to good books. She had enough incentive to read the entire Hunger Games trilogy in the last year, so I had no doubt she could be a "reader" if she chose.  I'm hoping that she'll keep up the habit and that I won't slide back into lazy parenting that allows too much screen time. (Where's my fingers-crossed emoji for iMac?)

Let me know if you have any book suggestions for a 12 yo girl that will keep her reading.

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